DADDY x Deutsche Umwelthilfe
Reclaiming Responsibility For Textile Waste
Pictures courtesy of Deutsche Umwelthilfe
Europe’s so-called textile circularity is a myth. It is exporting its waste problem.
Europe’s textile system is not circular. Huge amounts of used clothing collected in Germany are exported to countries in the Global South, where large shares end up on dumpsites or in the environment. The Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) is calling for a strong Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system that makes fashion companies responsible for the global impacts of their products and supports the transition to a truly circular textile economy.
The current textile system is failing. Instead of creating a circular economy, Europe is exporting its textile waste problem to countries in the Global South. Today, 80 to 90 percent of reusable used textiles collected in Germany are exported abroad. In countries such as Ghana up to half of these clothes end up directly on dumpsites or in the environment because the volumes are too large and the quality is too poor. Many textile bales also contain damaged or unusable waste from the start.
Even the clothes that are worn eventually become waste. Yet there is often no infrastructure to recycle or safely manage these materials. What is currently counted as "reuse" in Europe frequently means shifting disposal problems to other parts of the world.
The Deutsche Umwelthilfe is campaigning for a strong and fair Extended Producer Responsibility system for textiles. EPR means that fashion companies must take responsibility for the environmental and social impacts of their products throughout the entire lifecycle.
For DUH, this responsibility cannot stop at Europe’s borders. Companies must help finance collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure in the countries where textile waste actually ends up. At the same time, communities and organisations from affected countries such as Ghana must be directly involved in decision making processes within Producer Responsibility Organisations and across the textile value chain.
DUH is also calling for a for a dedicated transformation fund as part of the new German textile law, financed through textile EPR revenues to support the shift away from today’s linear fast fashion system towards a truly circular textile economy. Repair, reuse, sharing and second hand systems must become the new normal in order to reduce textile waste at its source.
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